Open to all, Desert X AlUla is a recurring and temporary, site-responsive, international open-air art exhibition taking place in AlUla, a globally significant ancient desert region in the Arabian Peninsula.
This year’s exhibition, under the curatorial vision of Maya El Khalil and Marcello Dantas, with artistic direction from Raneem Farsi and Neville Wakefield, features 15 newly commissioned artworks.
Following two exhibitions since 2020, Desert X AlUla returns for its third edition from 9 February – 23 March 2024, placing visionary contemporary artworks by Saudi and international artists amidst the extraordinary desert landscape of AlUla, a majestic region in north-west Saudi Arabia. Positioning AlUla as a global destination for experiencing site responsive monumental art, Desert X AlUla invites artists to engage in a dialogue with the landscape, nature and heritage of AlUla to create distinctive works that emerge from the local context and resonate with audiences around the world.
Desert X AlUla takes place as a highlight of the AlUla Arts Festival, part of the annual AlUla Moments calendar of events. Under the theme of In the Presence of Absence, Desert X AlUla 2024 asks ‘what cannot be seen?’. Often dismissed as spaces of emptiness, deserts are rendered mute, static, but there is much more than meets the eye. Artists taking part in Desert X AlUla 2024 are invited to explore ideas of the unseen and the inexpressible.
The edition of Desert X AlUla is situated across three locations for the first time, inviting visitors to experience spectacular and varied landscapes as they weave their journey between works. Desert X AlUla works can be seen in the desert landscape of Wadi AlFann, amongst the black lava stone terrain and breathtaking views of Harrat Uwayrid and at the AlManshiyah Plaza, which features the carefully preserved AlUla Railway Station, revealing the many layers of history and cultural confluence you find in AlUla.
All artists visit AlUla and spend time in its landscape; their proposals are then developed from this experience.
Sara Alissa and Nojoud Alsudairi turn the landscape into a self-reflective arrangement in Invisible Possibilities: When the Earth Began to Look at Itself. Through different viewpoints and approaches, the work aims to reshape viewers’ understanding of the site’s ecological transition and its physical geographies.
Sara Alissa & Nojoud Alsudairi, Invisible Possibilities: When the Earth Began to Look at Itself, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
As we enter the cylindrical form of Kimsooja’s work, between iridescent walls, visitors are drawn in and out to the center of a spiral. The chromatic walls of To Breathe – AlUla distils light that has travelled aeons into prisms that dance across the visitor and the landscape.
Kimsooja, To Breathe – AlUla, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
Ayman Yossri Daydban draws the contours of a football pitch with white stones and rocks gathered by the AlUla community from across the valley. Placed in a remote, rocky area, the football field is a mysterious and suspicious presence, provoking collective memory and considering the social role of football.
Ayman Yossri Daydban, A rock garden in the shape of a full-sized soccer field, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
For When I saw my reflection, Bosco Sodi gathered volcanic rocks from across the landscape. Wrapped in gold, they have been placed in rock faces that tower above the desert to draw the viewer’s eyes to the beautiful organic formations and accidents that already exist in the rock formations.
Bosco Sodi, When I saw my reflection, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
In Caline Aoun’s The Desert Has No Surface, stones from the basalt plateau of Harrat al Sham are polished on one side. The sun is an essential element in Aoun’s work which is activated through the refraction of sunlight producing moments of shimmering that reflect the impermanence of the desert landscape and the natural forces that created it.
Caline Aoun, The Desert Has No Surface, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
Rana Haddad and Pascal Hachem’s installation focuses on honouring the traditional crafts of the region, creating a refuge made from rammed earth jars. Dubbed Reveries, each jar in the tower bears geometric cuts, allowing nature and light to shift and cast ever-evolving patterns within.
Rana Haddad + Pascal Hachem Reveries, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
Also composed of vessels, Ibrahim Mahama’s terracotta pots are scattered across the landscape, suggesting new ecosystems emerging from the relics of history. Mahama’s works can be viewed across Desert X AlUla’s three sites including Dung Bara – The Rider Does No in Wadi AlFann, Hanging Garden at AlManshiyah Plaza and Gabli Din Pali – A Full Gourd Does Not Rattle; It Is Only a Partially Filled Gourd Which Rattles on Harrat Uwayrid.
Ibrahim Mahama, Gabli Din Pali – A Full Gourd Does Not Rattle_ It Is Only a Partially Filled Gourd Which Rattles, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
Drawing on AlUla’s legacy on the Incense Route, Karola Braga uses scent to recreate the sensory world of ancient trade. Her structure, Sfumato, engulfs participants in hazy frankincense and myrrh, inviting visitors to reconnect with the olfactory heritage of the route in a unique and immersive encounter.
Karola Braga, Sfumato, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
Aseel AlYaqoub’s Weird Life: An ode to desert varnish is inspired by the ‘desert varnish’ that naturally appears in landscapes like AlUla’s, evolving into a luminous veneer with yellow, orange, red and black, and bemusing scientists for centuries.
Aseel AlYaqoub, Weird Life_ An ode to desert varnish, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
Inspired by pre-Islamic beliefs of jinn inhabiting the desert, Filwa Nazer’s elevated walkway of Preserving Shadows is structured using steel mesh to form a massive, undulating black snake.
Filwa Nazer, Preserving Shadows, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy The Royal Commission for AlUla
Elaborated into massive, outsized forms, Monira Al Qadiri’s W.A.B.A.R. echoes mysterious objects that perplexed inhabitants of the desert in the 1930s. The work summons a cosmic folk narrative where upon discovering the pearls, a community in the Empty Quarter believed they had an extraterrestrial origin.
Monira Al Qadiri, W.A.B.A.R., Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
Rand Abdul Jabbar’s Where myths are born of mud and desire, is situated in an alcove in the mountain valley, its five sculptural forms telling the story of Venus. While encountering each piece through the story, the visitor becomes immersed in ancient perspectives and shifting relations to the celestial.
Rand Abdul Jabbar, Where myths are born of mud and desire, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
In The Dot, Faisal Samra shows how the Wadi AlFann valley originated from an ancient crack, revealing the small forces that shape grandeur over epochs. The illusion of time is symbolized by a line composed of rock fragments.
Faisal Samra, The Dot, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
Giuseppe Penone’s The Logic of the Vegetal – Metamorphosis explores the cyclical nature of all life. Fossilized tree trunks hover between living organism and mineral state, encouraging visitors to reflect on the transformations that occur over time.
Giuseppe Penone, The Logic of the Vegetal – Metamorphosis, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
Necks of glass bottles emerge from Kader Attia’s sculptures in Whistleblower, which whistle when open to the wind. The haunting sound that results encourages viewers to reflect on the concern we should all have for Earth.
Kader Attia, Whistleblower, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla
An extensive programme of events for visitors and local communities will take place during Desert X AlUla. This will include curator and artist talks, primary school visits and art workshops on themes from collage and model making to print making and photography. Music events taking place during Desert X AlUla include traditional Saudi dance, ambient compositions, and live radio broadcasts.
For the first time, Desert X AlUla has offered a special commission which is realised by Tino Sehgal. Sehgal’s work (un titled) emphasizes the interaction between the natural elements of the desert and the human intervention through movement and sound, creating a connection between the visitor, the environment, and the intangible aspects of experience and imagination.
Desert X AlUla is a collaboration between Desert X and the destination of AlUla established to advance new cultural dialogue through art. The first site-responsive exhibition of its kind in Saudi Arabia, it fosters dialogue and exchange between artists, curators, and international and local communities, shaped by a curatorial vision that takes the desert as its inspiration. Building on the legacy of Desert X, which takes place in California’s Coachella Valley, Desert X AlUla draws on principles of land art, offering a profound opportunity to experience art on a monumental scale in dialogue with nature.
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Cover photo: Faisal Samra, The Dot, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy The Royal Commission for AlUla
Press release and photos courtesy The Royal Commission for AlUla
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